Patriarch

===Patriarchs===
[[File:1800 Wilkinson Map of the 4 Eastern Churches rectified.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Map of Justinian's Pentarchy]]
[[File:Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak par Claude Truong-Ngoc mars 2014.jpg|thumb|[[Patriarch of Alexandria]] [[Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak]] wearing a distinctive clothing of a patriarch]]
In the [[Catholic Church]], the bishop who is head of a particular [[sui iuris|autonomous church]], known in canon law as a church ''sui iuris'', is ordinarily a patriarch, though this responsibility can be entrusted to a major archbishop, metropolitan, or other prelate for a number of reasons.<ref>{{cite book|title=Code of Canons of Eastern Churches|date=1990|pages=58–59}}</ref>

Since the [[First Council of Nicaea|Council of Nicaea]], the bishop of Rome has been recognized as the first among patriarchs.<ref>{{cite web|title=DOCUMENTS FROM THE FIRST COUNCIL OF NICEA|url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/nicea1.txt|website=History Sourcebooks Project|publisher=Fordham university|access-date=30 September 2017}}</ref> That council designated three bishops with this 'supra-Metropolitan' title: Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. In the [[Pentarchy]] formulated by [[Justinian I]] (527–565), the emperor assigned as a patriarchate to the Bishop of Rome the whole of Christianized Europe (including almost all of modern [[Greece]]), except for the region of [[Thrace]], the areas near [[Constantinople]], and along the coast of the Black Sea. He included in this patriarchate also the western part of North Africa. The jurisdictions of the other patriarchates extended over Roman Asia, and the rest of Africa. Justinian's system was given formal ecclesiastical recognition by the [[Quinisext Council]] of 692, which the [[Holy See|see of Rome]] has, however, not recognized.

There were at the time bishops of other apostolic sees that operated with patriarchal authority beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, such as the [[List of Patriarchs of the Church of the East|Catholicos of Selucia-Ctesephon]].

Today, the patriarchal heads of Catholic autonomous churches are:<ref>{{cite web|title=Patriarchs|url=http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/patriarchs.htm|website=GCCatholic.org|access-date=30 September 2017}}</ref>
* The [[Bishop of Rome|Patriarch of Rome (Pope)]], as head of the [[Latin Church]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Maloney|first1=G.A.|author-link1=Rome, Patriarchate of|title=New Catholic Encyclopedia|date=2002|publisher=Gale|isbn=978-0787640040|pages=15 vols|edition=Revised}}</ref>
* The [[Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria|Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria (Pope)]] and head of the [[Coptic Catholic Church]], recognised 1824
*The [[Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch|Maronite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East]] and head of the [[Maronite Church]], recognised 685
* The [[Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch|Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East]], of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, head of the [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church]]; in his case, Antioch is the actual and sole patriarchate, Alexandria and Jerusalem are just titular (once residential) patriarchates vested in his see.
*The [[Syriac Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch|Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East]] and head of the [[Syriac Catholic Church]]
*The [[Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate of Baghdad|Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Baghdad]] and head of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], recognised 1553
*The [[Patriarchate of Cilicia|Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia]] and head of the [[Armenian Catholic Church]], recognised 1742
Four more of the [[Eastern Catholic Church]]es are headed by a prelate known as a "[[Major Archbishop]],"<ref>{{cite book|title=Code of Canons of Eastern Churches|date=1990|publisher=Catholic Church|pages=151–154}}</ref> a title essentially equivalent to that of Patriarch and originally created by [[Pope Paul VI]] in 1963 for [[Josyf Slipyj]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG1199/_P48.HTM |title=CCEO: text - IntraText CT |publisher=Intratext.com |date=4 May 2007 |access-date=28 February 2011}}</ref>